Social Media Can Break Your Heart By S.C. Wynne

Good Morning!

I was scrolling Facebook the other day and I saw a post from one of my good friends about an Internet couple who split recently. Dadsnotdaddies was the couple. They're an adorable couple that had been dating about three and a half years, and one of them has kids. They posted lots of cute photos and videos about their life, trying to show a positive gay family situation. It was wonderful, while it lasted. Unfortunately, they decided to split up.

It's not their breaking up that made me want to write this post, though, it was the enormous sadness I felt over their split. Two men I've never met actually depressed me for hours on end, when I heard about their breakup. Even though I don't KNOW THEM. lol

I've noticed that reaction in myself many times over the past year when couples on YouTube split up. These couples invite us into their lives, and we feel a part of their life. Mark and Ethan were another couple that broke my heart when they announced they were cooling off. Why do we get so invested in the lives of strangers? It's a very odd thing.

I suppose reality TV is similar to these YouTube, Instagram couples. We follow along with these people's lives as they face good times and bad. We feel bonded to these people, even though we've never met them. This phenomenon is something my grandparents would never have understood. I think they'd have been horrified at what reality stars share with the audience.

We don't just love people on social media and reality TV though. We can also hate people we see. We can actually loathe people we have never said one word to, based solely on whether or not we like what they do on TV. Let's not forget, this stuff is all edited. We're not seeing things unfold in real time. We're seeing what people want us to see.

I guess I just wanted to write this post because I find it odd how attached I am to people on YouTube, and wanted to examine why that is. I don't know if it's healthy to form attachments to people I've never met, but it certainly is entertaining.

S.C.
www.scwynne.com